Scottish Parliament Approves Abortion Buffer Zone Legislation

File photo of Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay in Scotland on dated June 16, 2023.Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have backed legislation to introduce buffer zones around clinics performing abortions, preventing vigils, protests, and other pro-life activities within their vicinity.

On Wednesday, MSPs voted in favour of the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) (Scotland) Bill, 118 votes to one. The legislation, brought forward by Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay, will see 200-metre zones set up around approximately 30 sites across the country.

When it receives Royal Assent and becomes law, it will become an offence for a person to block, cause harassment, or attempt to “influenc[e] the decision of another person” trying to access, provide, or facilitate the provision of abortions at these premises.

Ms. Mackay said the bill was about “protecting women’s access to healthcare.”

“Today’s vote means never again should a woman have to be stripped of her dignity, privacy or emotion in opting to have an abortion,” the Scottish Green MSP said.

She added: “It enshrines her right to do so, and to do so without fear or intimidation. A woman’s right to decide what happens to her body is no-one else’s business but her own and that is the message being sent loud and clear across Scotland tonight.”

‘Dark Day’ for Scotland

In response to the bill passing, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) called it a “dark day” for Scotland, saying the move would impact free speech and introduce “thought crime” into the country.

“Today marks a dark day in Scotland’s history as MSPs have voted in favour of implementing buffer zones around abortion facilities,” said SPUC’s executive director, Michael Robinson, in a statement.

Mr. Robinson said that by Holyrood voting in favour of the measures, “MSPs have trampled on at least four European Convention of Human Rights and have introduced thoughtcrime into Scottish society.

“Scotland has taken a colossal step backwards for civil liberties and has established itself as the most illiberal and anti-free speech nation in the Western world.”

The SPUC executive director said that the bill is “highly likely to breach protected human rights” and would be “challengeable in a court of law.”

“SPUC will be exploring every option available to remove the law from the statute books, including judicial review and remains committed to upholding the freedoms that underpin our society,” he added.

Concerns Over Silent Prayer

The issue of silent prayer in the vicinity of abortion providers was raised throughout the debate and during the scrutiny of the bill, with some MSPs and witnesses expressing concern over potential criminalisation of the act.

On May 28, Conservative MSP Jeremy Balfour asked whether as the bill was written it would result in parliament “policing thought,” questioning, “Do we really want to infringe on religious freedom in this way?”

Ms. Mackay had argued that the bill does not criminalise silent prayer or thinking, “but what you are doing and the effect that has on others.”

Pro-life groups demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament, to protest against attempts to amend the Criminal Justice Bill to decriminalise abortion in Westminster, London, on May 15, 2024. Lucy North/PA Wire

The Green MSP had said, “If nobody knows someone is praying, and nothing in their conduct is capable of having the effects on women or staff that this Bill seeks to prevent, then it is unlikely that any offence could be committed.”

But she added, “If someone stands silently praying for a long time, deliberately looking at women accessing an abortion clinic, or for example with a sign, then they may be committing an offence.”

Ms. Mackay said that the risk of offence was “not because of the prayer, it is because of the sense of judgment.”

Arrested for Silent Prayer

The bill brings Scotland into line with the rest of the UK, where a similar law was passed by the devolved government in Northern Ireland in 2023, called the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland).

Legislation on “interfering” with access to abortion clinics in England and Wales is covered under the Public Order Act 2023; however, guidance on how these buffer zones would work has not been published, with the Home Office saying they will not be released until after the July 4 General Election.

Local authorities can introduce Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs), a tool available under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime, and Policing Act 2014, around abortion clinics. The measures have been used to prosecute people engaged in pro-life activities.

Pro-life campaigner Isabel Vaughan-Spruce in an undated file photo. Courtesy of ADF UK

In December 2022, Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the leader of the pro-life group 40 Days for Life Birmingham, was arrested and charged on four counts with breaching a PSPO outside a Birmingham abortion clinic after telling police she “might” be praying silently in her head.

The legal organisation supporting Ms. Vaughan-Spruce, ADF UK, said at the time that the increase in buffer zone legislation and orders “is a watershed moment in our country.”

Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, continued: “We must ask ourselves whether we are a genuinely democratic country committed to protecting the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of speech. We are at serious risk of mindlessly sleepwalking into a society that accepts, normalises, and even promotes the ’tyranny of the majority.'”

In February 2023, the charges against Ms. Vaughan-Spruce were dropped.

PA Media contributed to this report.